
Monday saw the P 3,4,5 composite class from Athelstaneford spend the day out on the hills behind their school – the fantastic Garleton Hills. After spending an hour planning their journey within the classroom – what to pack; weather forecasting; route choice; distance and timings – we were able to walk from the classroom, out of the back door and straight up into the Garleton Hills.
We spent the day looking at past and present land use of East Lothian; map reading and navigation (following on from a previous orienteering session with some pupils); one or two bushcraft skills.
Over lunch the pupils erected a teepee and set a fire going so we could all have a cup of hot chocolate in a communal atmosphere. We had our lunch on the site of a former fort – a fabulous location with views that meant we were able to pick out the Isle of May; Lomond Hills; Bass Rock; Dunbar church; Fidra – to name but a few. Our ordnance survey maps that we had been studying in the classroom at the start of the day suddenly came to life.
Our original plan had been to make it all the way to the Hopetoun Monument, however our plans were changed as a fantastic learning opportunity occurred towards the end of the day concerning risk management!
Some children are making plans themselves to take their parents up to the Hopetoun Monument to ‘complete’ their walk.